‘Shortcomings and failures’ could sink Aukus nuclear submarines plan, UK inquiry warns

A UK defence committee’s inquiry has found ‘shortcomings and failings in the delivery of Aukus which threaten to prevent [the submarine project’s] promise becoming a reality’. Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

“Cracks are already beginning to show” in the UK’s funding for the Aukus agreement that could derail the ambitious nuclear submarine plan, a British parliamentary inquiry has found, highlighting a threat to Australia’s security.

UK shipbuilding has been under-funded for decades and the country’s submarine availability is “critically low”, the House of Commons defence committee’s report found.